This invention relates to the fields of computer and communications. More particularly, a system and methods are provided for handling a telephone call in real-time.
When a telephone user or subscriber is not present when a call is received, there are generally few options for handling the call. The caller may be prompted to leave a voicemail message, the user's telephone line may be set to forward the call to another number, or the caller may simply hang up. Although the caller will likely be able to contact the user eventually, at the same or a different number, this will require additional calls or other action on the caller's part. It would be advantageous to enable timely contact with the user (i.e., the called party) in order to inform him or her of the call and allow the user to decide how to handle the call—whether to answer it, forward or transfer it to another number, take a voicemail message, respond with a single message, etc.
In one solution to the need for real-time call control, a presence server is configured to track the location of, or means of contacting, a user. The user employs a computer that communicates with the presence server and provides its location (e.g., network address). However, in this solution the user's computer must be configured with custom or specialized software for interfacing with the user and presence server and enabling call control. Thus, the specialized software must be installed on each of the user's computers and must be upgraded in order to provide different or additional functionality. And, the software only enables the user's computer to perform call control operations through the presence server.